Sliding shelf for refrigerator cabinets



m- 3, 1938. J. L. KNIGHT 2,130,279

SLIDING SHELF FOR REFRIGERATOR CABINETS Filed Dec. 9, 1936 Patented Sept. 13, 1938 PATENT OFFICE I SLIDING SHELF FgIR REFRIGERATOR CAB ETS

James L. Knight, Erie, Pa., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application December 9, 1936, Serial No. 114,990

' 2 Claims.

My invention relates to refrigerator cabinets I and more particular] for. a I

It is an object of my invention to provide an 5 .improved arrangement for supporting. sliding ing in which Fig. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of the lower portion of a refrigerator cabinet having a compartment provided with an arrangement for supporting sliding shelves therein enrbodying my invention; Fig. 2 is an enlarged side elevation of one of the supporting brackets employed in the arrangement of Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a. side elevation of a modified form of the shelf supporting bracket.- I

Referring to the drawing, I have shown in Fig. 1 the lower portion of a refrigerator cabinet designed for household use provided with a metal outer wall ill having a rectangular door opening i I in the front wall thereof. A sheet metal inner liner I2 arranged in spaced relation within the outer wall to forms a food storage compartment l3 in the refrigerator cabinet. Preferably, the surface of the inner liner l2 presented to the food storage compartment I3 is covered with a vitreous enamel to provide smooth easily cleaned interior walls. The front wall of the metal inner liner l2isprovided with arectangular door opening it which registers with the somewhat larger door opening it in the metal outer wall It, the adjacent edges thereof being secured together by a strip of non-hydroscopic heat insulating material I5. Suitable heatinsulating material It is arranged in the space between the metal outer wall It and the metal inner liner [2. The refrigerator cabinet is supported upon a series of sheet metal legs I1. The food storage compartment I3 is bounded by a plurality of interior walls including a. rear wall l8, oppositely'disposed side walls l9, and a suitable heat insulated door may be supported by hinges arranged at any side of the door opening formed in the front wall of the food 55 of aligned shelf supporting brackets 2| secured y to sliding shelves therereference may be had to the accompanying drawto each of the oppositely disposed side walls IQ of the food storage compartment l3. The shelf 20 includes a substantially rectangular border frame having front, rear, and sides 22, 23 and 24,- respectively. A supporting surface is provided on the shelf 20 by a plurality of spaced fiat bars rigidly secured by welding, soldering or the like, to the front 22 and rear 23 of the border frame. These bars 25 are secured to the undersides of the front and rear portions of the border frame, so that the, border frame constitutes a marginal stop about the periphery of the supporting surface of the shelf. A plurality of inverted U- shaped bars 26 are secured to the rear 23 of the border frame to afford additional marginal stops at the rear of the shelf.

Each of the brackets 2|,as best shown in Fig. 2, isprovided with a guide slot. 21 therein for slidably' receiving a side 24 of the border frame of the shelf 20 and is turnably secured to one of the oppositely disposed side walls 19 of the food storage compartment I 3 by a screw 28 threaded into an aperture 29 formed in the side wall. These brackets are turnably secured to' the side walls of the food storage compartment in order to allow the guide slots formed therein to be readily aligned to reheive the sides of the border frame of the shelf, in spite of slight inaccuracies which may exist in the alignment of the brackets.

In order to obtain a quiet, smooth sliding action between the border frame of the shelf and the brackets, the supporting brackets are preferably formed'of some non-metallic substance such, for example, as a resinous condensation product having a suitable filler, which material is obtainable on the market under the trade name Textolite.

It will be understood that a plurality of vertically spaced sets of the shelf supporting brackets will be secured to the oppositely disposed side walls of the food storage compartment and that each set of brackets will-be provided with a slidable shelf as described above.

In order to limit the outwardly sliding movement of the shelf 20a stop member is pivotally mounted to a bar 25 on opposite sides of the I shelf 2i! adjacent ,the sides 24 of the border frame. When the stop members 30 are pivoted into a horizontal position as shown in full lines in Fig. 2, the shelf may be slid only partially outwardly from the food storage compartment l3 through the door opening therein, due to the engagement between the outer hooked ends 3| of the stop members 30 embracing the side portions 24 of the border frame and thebrackets 2| secured to the oppositely disposed side walls IQ of guide slots 21 formed therein to prevent tilting of the shelf 20. On the other hand, when the stop members 30 are pivoted into a vertical position as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, the shelf spaced shelf supporting brackets 40 of modified shelf supporting brackets. Each of the brackets maybe slid completely outwardly and removed from the food storage compartment I 3 through the door opening therein.

In Fig. 3 I have shown two similar vertically construction secured to a side wall I! "of the food storage compartment 13. The upper bracket is one of an upper set of shelf supporting brackets and the lower bracket is one of a lower set of 40 is provided with an upper and a lower guide slot 4| and 42, respectively, instead of a single guide slot such as is provided in the bracket 2l previously described, andis turnably secured to as a side wall IQ of the food storage compartment I! by a screw 43 threaded into an aperture 44 formed in the side wall l9. By employing two sets of these shelf supporting brackets of the modified construction described above, it is posso sible to obtain three different vertical spacings between two shelves supported by the two sets of brackets. In Fig. 3 these vertical spacings have been indicated as hi, ha, and ha.

While I have shown a particular embodiment of my invention in connection with a household J type refrigerator, I do not desire my invention to be limited to the construction shown and described, and I intend in the appended claims to cover all modifications within the spirit and 4 scope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a refrigerator cabinet having smooth interior rear and oppositely disposed side walls and a door opening in the front wall of said cabinet, a set of aligned shelf supporting brackets mounted on said side walls, said set of brackets including at least two brackets mounted on each of said side walls, each of said brackets having a guide slot formed therein, a shelf supported in said guide slots of said set of brackets, said shelf being slidable in said guide slots into and out of said cabinet through said door opening, said guide slots in said set of brackets providing abutments to prevent tilting of said shelf, and means ward sliding movement of said shelf by engagement with said brackets.

2. In a refrigerator cabinet having smooth in terior rear and oppositely disposed side walls and ,a door opening in the front wall of said cabinet,

a set of aligned shelf supporting brackets mounted on said side walls, said set of brackets including at least two brackets mounted on each of said side walls, each of said brackets having a guide slot formed therein, a shelf including a border frame and a plurality of bars secured to said border frame, said border frame being supported in said guide slots of said set of brackets and slidable into and out of said cabinet through said door opening, said guide slots in said brackets providing abutments to prevent tilting of said shelf, and means including stop members pivotally mounted on opposite sides of said shelf and :swingable into a position to engage said brackets James L. xmcin'r. 40 

